Expanding Quality Care for Glaucoma Through a Provider-Patient Partnership

Glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness and visual impairment in the United States, particularly among disadvantaged populations. Despite the presence of therapies proven in NEI, randomized controlled trials that can be delivered by more than 18,000 ophthalmologists and 34,000 optometrists, almost nothing is known about the content and quality of glaucoma care delivered by non-MD providers such as optometrists. With the numbers of people with glaucoma expected to more than double in the next twenty years in the face of no more than a 15% increase in the supply of eye care providers, methods to better support appropriate and high-quality care for chronic eye diseases such as glaucoma delivered by optometrists will become as critical, if not more so, as techniques to enhance quality care among ophthalmologists.

Our study is a community-based, randomized, controlled trial that evaluates the suitability and effectiveness of a technology-based (tablet computer) intervention within the context of a novel partnership between optometrists and patients with glaucoma to improve the process quality of care and ultimately outcomes of care. By using successfully implemented technology in novel applications,and by building on the success of ongoing community-based quality improvement projects in our region, the study provides a means for rapid translation into community care if the intervention is successful.